catch on
Britishverb
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to become popular or fashionable
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to grasp mentally; understand
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Understand, as in Aunt Mary doesn't catch on to any jokes . The verb to catch alone was used with this meaning from Shakespeare's time, on being added in the late 1800s. Also see get it , def. 2.
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Become popular, as in This new dance is really beginning to catch on . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Investors will look for visibility into further big gains for Nvidia even as new types of chips catch on more with customers.
From MarketWatch • May 17, 2026
In the bottom of the inning, Eli White made a sprinting catch on the warning track in right field to rob Max Muncy of extra bases.
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026
Salt, who comes into the IPL after a quiet T20 World Cup, did take a sensational diving catch on the deep cover boundary in Sunrisers' 201-9.
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026
But its original animated films have struggled to catch on.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
“Well, I may be busy—there’s a rerun of a Frisbee tournament that I may want to catch on TV....”
From "Forged by Fire" by Sharon M. Draper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
